'Insensitive': Kashmiri Pandit on J&K L-G Manoj Sinha's remark, seek transfer policy

Jammu, December 22

Infuriated over the remarks of Lt Governor Manoj Sinha that no salary will be paid to those not resuming their duties, employees belonging to the reserved Dogra category gheraoed the BJP office in Jammu on Thursday and asked senior party leaders to take up their case with the government.

Nearly 10,000 reserved category Dogra and Kashmiri Pandit employees fled the Valley in May and June following a spate of targeted killings and are since protesting in Jammu demanding relocation.

Under the banner of the All Jammu-Based Reserved Category Employees Association, they held a protest in front of the BJP headquarters in the Triquta Nagar area in Jammu demanding a transfer policy for them. They said the government had promised that a transfer policy would be framed for them and they would be relocated to safer locations outside Kashmir. The employees said the L-G’s statement was “insensitive and not expected of a person of his stature”. Protesting employees who fled to Jammu after the killing of a teacher, Rajni Bala, on May 31 said the J&K administration was not serious about their relocation and safety. The L-G, during a press conference on Wednesday, had stated that employees who were not resuming their duties and sitting at home would not be paid salaries.

Naresh Bhagat, a leader of the employees, said, “A committee comprising senior officials to frame a transfer policy for us has so far not submitted its report. These officials are not working and their salaries should rather be put on hold.”

Senior BJP leader Devendra Singh Rana assured the protesting employees that he would personally take up the matter with the government to implement a transfer policy for them.

Meanwhile, Kashmiri Pandit employees who are also protesting in Jammu for their relocation to Jammu said they were “hurt by the L-G’s statement”. Kashmiri Pandit employees continued their protest at the office of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner in Jammu and said they won’t budge.

“It’s better we die of hunger than dying at the hands of terrorists in Kashmir,” said Ranjan Jotshi, a Kashmiri Pandit employee.